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No Child Left Behind

The Impact of the Latest Federal Education Legislation on the Arts

Signed by President Bush on January 8, 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) provides historic education reform for America's schools. According to the United States Department of Education, NCLB is intended to hold schools accountable for student achievement, return control of education to local authorities, and encourage instruction methods to be based upon research. NCLB is a new version of the 1965 law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). 

In 2007, Congress will begin the process of reauthorizing NCLB for another five years. In light of the coming debates, the arts education community is currently working to gather support and develop requests to members of Congress in order to ensure high-quality, ongoing K–12 arts education for America's students.

This web page seeks to inform advocates about, provide context for, and offer more information on the relationship between arts education, federal policy, and specifically the No Child Left Behind Act.

The Successes
Education and arts supporters gained footing in the nation's education work when NCLB was passed, listing the arts as one of the "core academic subjects" of public education. In total, there are 10 "core academic subjects." This designation qualifies arts instruction for diverse federal grants and other support. In addition, national polling has shown strong support for arts education among likely voters.

• No Subject Left Behind (pdf, 309KB) is a report produced by a consortium of national arts organizations, including Americans for the Arts, on the arts-related aspects of No Child Left Behind. The document includes information on arts education policy under NCLB and information on grant opportunities, including program descriptions, Department of Education contact information, and links to many other resources. It offers the best industry information on NCLB and arts education.
• According to a new national survey of 1,000 likely voters, The Imagine Nation, “Thirty percent of American voters are not only dissatisfied with public education’s narrow focus on the ‘so-called’ basics but that they also believe developing the imagination is a critical, but missing, ingredient to student success in 21st century schools and moving students beyond average.” The pollsters say that this voting cohort—which is being called the “Imagine Nation” is of a scale rivaling “soccer moms.” 
• 69 percent of American voters believe that, when compared to other nations, America devotes less attention to developing the imagination and innovation.
• 86 percent of voters believe that encouraging children to be creative and develop their imagination is necessary to maintain our competitive edge and ensure we do not fall behind other countries.
• 83 percent of voters believe that a greater focus on the arts—alongside science, technology, and math—would better prepare students to address the demands of the 21st century.

The Challenges
Despite there being 10 core subjects, NCLB currently requires schools to report student achievement test results for only reading and mathematics. The law requires that all students in the country meet state-determined standards in core subjects by the year 2014. Because of the amount of change schools must see in student achievement, there are many reports of decreasing instruction time for other subjects, such as the arts.

• In 2008, a study from the Center on Education Policy, Instructional Time in Elementary Schools: A Closer Look at Changes for Specific Subjects, found that cuts in instructional time were deeper than first considered.
• Among the school districts that reported both increasing time for English language arts or math and reducing time in other subjects, 72 percent indicated that they reduced time by a total of at least 75 minutes per week for one or more of these other subjects.
• Among districts that reported a decrease in instructional time since 2001–2002, 23 percent reported decreasing total instructional time for arts and music by 50 percent or more below pre-NCLB levels—greater than social studies, science, and physical education.
• Choices, Changes, and Challenges: Curriculum and Instruction in the NCLB Era finds that
• “approximately 62 percent of school districts increased the amount of time spent in elementary schools on English language arts, and or math, while 44 percent of districts cut time on science, social studies, art and music, physical education, lunch, or recess.”
• For school districts with at least one school identified for NCLB improvement, the average number of minutes per week devoted to art and music is fewest out of all subject areas studied, with 97 minutes for arts compared to 568 for reading.
• Furthermore, 30 percent of districts with at least one identified school—those with students most responsive to the benefits of the arts—have decreased instructional time for art and music.
• Choices, Changes, and Challenges: Curriculum and Instruction in the NCLB Era included a list of recommendations, among them was a recommendation to "encourage states to give adequate emphasis to art and music."

Making Change
Americans for the Arts works in three important ways to influence education policy, practice, and funding. 

• In September 2007, the Arts Education Working Group, a coalition of national arts and arts education advocacy organizations, released their legislative recommendations for the reauthorizations of NCLB (110 KB). The Working Group continues to work with House and Senate committee staff to incorporate these recommendations into the reauthorization drafts. Recommendations include:
• Retain the Arts in the Definition of Core Academic Subjects of Learning;
• Require Annual State Reports on Student Access to Core Academic Subjects;
• Improve National Data Collection and Research in Arts Education;
• Reauthorize the Arts in Education Programs of the U.S. Department of Education.
• In spring and summer 2006, representatives from a number of national arts education organizations crafted a unified statement on arts education and NCLB. This paper is an advocacy tool for communicating the benefits of arts education to policymakers at all levels as federal lawmakers begin the process of reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act. The messages outlined in this statement, Arts Education: Creating Student Success in School, Work, and Life (54 KB), will directly communicate the benefits of arts education to policymakers and will also provide talking points for individuals and organizations weighing in during these early days of the reauthorization debate. These talking points are useful at every level of public education decision-making. As the reauthorization process moves forward, arts advocates will articulate and advance more specific policy recommendations.
• To further influence lawmakers, the E-Advocacy Center for arts education provides a portal through which messages are sent supporting various federal arts education programs. Grassroots messages are crafted for each sender, with the option of amending or writing one's own. 
• Americans for the Arts has also joined peer efforts to improve education in America. Notably, Robert Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts, has signed onto the new Broader, Bolder Approach to Education, a statement detailing the need to address economic inequalities in order to ensure student success. The task force that drafted the statement includes leaders with diverse religious and political affiliations working in the public policy areas of education, social welfare, health, housing, and the arts. The task force believes that many American children are growing up in circumstances that hinder their educational achievement and it intends to call attention to what it considers flaws in the current No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. The statement argues that the nation's education and youth development policy has erred in relying on school improvement alone to help disadvantaged students.

Federal Support for Arts Education
Within these resources, you can find quotes and statistics to support the inclusion of the arts into education and better argue for time and money dedicated to the creative talent of America's children. These letters articulate the support for arts education by leading politicians and educators.

• Arts Education Letter of Support by Former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige (July 2004)
• Putting Arts Education Front and Center by Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige (January 2005)
• The Arts Are Vital to Young People's Success in School and in Life by Former U.S. Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education Susan Sclafani (July 2005)

More Information

On Influencing Policymakers:

• One can learn more about technical aspects of federal support for arts education by reading Americans for the Arts' Arts Education Issue Brief.
• Another Americans for the Arts issue brief discusses NCLB Reauthorization itself.
• Americans for the Arts created the Arts Education Resource Center to identify methods by which school board members can influence district policy and practice regarding arts education.

On No Child Left Behind:

• National education organizations are currently organizing or have published their own NCLB positions. For example, the National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, and the National School Boards Association websites feature NCLB policy work.
• On Monday, September 10, 2007, the House Education & Labor Committee (Chairman Miller, D-CA) held a hearing regarding a new draft legislative proposal to reauthorize Title I of NCLB. The witness list and webcast are available.
• Americans for the Arts is a founding member of United Voices for Education, a group of education organizations that supports educating the whole child and creating the conditions in schools that are conducive to the healthy growth and development of children and youth. Our colleagues at the Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development have a website dedicated to this effort.
• President Bush created two panels focused on core subjects. These panels advise the president and Secretary Spellings on the best use of scientifically-based research on the teaching and learning of math and reading. The National Mathematics Advisory Panel will begin its work in 2007. The National Reading Advisory Panel resulted in the Reading First initiative, an early childhood research-based literacy program funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
• Americans for the Arts is a signatory to the Joint Organizational Statement on No Child Left Behind that seeks to "emphasize the need to shift No Child Left Behind from applying sanctions for failing to raise test scores to supporting states and localities and holding them accountable as they work to make the systemic changes that improve student learning."

On Arts Education:

• Arts Education Research and Information is a live database of current research, program profiles, news, and other information, hosted by Americans for the Arts.
• Regarding the amount and quality of arts education in America, the only statistics on national education and the arts achievement is the 1997 arts assessment by the Nation's Report Card. A National Assessment of Educational Progress in the arts is expected to be fielded in 2008. Our efforts also include requiring the Institute for Education Sciences to field a second Fast Response Survey System study on arts education as a followup to one conducted in 1999.
• Education Commission of the States has published several documents on the opinions and roles of policy leaders, including state superintendent and lawmaker interviews.